And the wind howled...

The latter part of November and first couple weeks of December have seen some howling winds in the Alexandra Basin. One of our garage doors at the winery was blown out of its tracking and started flapping like a spinnaker with a sheet that just snapped! We even had to weigh some tanks down with water to stop them from falling over. Fortunately there was little to no damage in the vineyards from some pretty awesome gusts!

The vineyards are getting some much needed work at the moment with some bud rubbing and leaf plucking being done before Christmas. The bud rubbing cleans the base of the vine up by removing unwanted green shoots. The vineyard was looking decidedly 'hairy', but a close shave has it looking fantastic. We managed to get through the frost season with virtually no damage to any of our source blocks, so our yields are looking very positive in 2010. Even the Fan, one of our smallest blocks which is notorious for frost damage, has come through the Spring in great shape!

With Christmas and the holiday season right around the corner, our tasting room is starting to some activity. If you are going to be in Central Otago these holidays and want to try our 2009 wines, just give us a call to set a time up. We are always eager to host you and show you the new releases. We know you won't be disappointed! Happy Holidays and all the best for 2010 from the team at Shaky Bridge!

Vineyards Looking Great for Vintage 2010

November is always a tense month here in Alexandra. Though Spring is nearly over, the threat of frost is something we monitor very closely! We made it through bud burst and now in to mid November without any issues in the vineyards, but the cold southerly that's been blowing for a few days is not making us feel too safe. The cloud cover is a welcome friend to the winds! The vineyards are cracking along and if we can get through another couple of weeks, we will have had a frost free start to the growing season!

On the wine side of life, our 2009 whites have settled down beautifully in bottle since August and are developing the kind of intense flavors we expect. It always takes a wee bit of time for them to find the aromatics to find their place, but with a couple of months or so in bottle they are really showing their stuff. Check out our wines page for more information on our current release wines.

Alexandra Basin Winegrowers Announce First Annual New Release Tasting

Save the Sunday of Labour Weekend, October 25, for a fun and delicious afternoon of winetasting with the producers from Alexandra. The first of a New Release Tasting for the sub-regions winemakers is being held at Oliver's Garden in Clyde from 2pm-5pm. 17 producers, over 30 wines and only $15 to attend! Tickets are limited so be in quick. You can reserve your ticket by contacting Ash on 021.242.4408 or send an email to admin@shakybridge.co.nz

See the press release from Alexandra Basin Winegrowers

2009 Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir Rose Judged Best!

We entered our 2009 Pinot Noir Rose in to the 2009 New World Wine Awards held in August. We aren't sure how many Roses were entered, but we do know 8 Roses were awarded medals. 7 Roses received a Bronze Medal...but just 1 received a Silver Medal. Guess who?!

You can download the full award list :New World Awards Full.pdf

See a full list of all our awards from the last couple of years ; Shaky Bridge Awards

Are you ready for the NEW releases!?

We are very excited to release the following wines this Spring! For more information please contact us in New Zealand on +64.21.242.4408. A full tasting note is available to download by clicking on each wine.

Shaky Bridge Pioneer Series Pinot Gris 2009

Shaky Bridge Pinot Gris 2009

Shaky Bridge Chardonnay 2009

Shaky Bridge Riesling 2009

Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir Rose 2009 - Silver Medal, New World Wine Awards 2009

Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir 2007 - Silver Medal, Air New Zealand Wine Awards 2008 and Bragato Wine Awards 2008. The extra year in the bottle has done wonders for this incredible wine!

Our 2007 Pinot Noir has a rich, dark ruby colour with spicy aromas of black cherry, blackcurrant, cranberry and vanilla.  The wine has intense layers of flavour showing the contributions of each vineyard source.  Supported by rich, ripe tannins and earth the wine has a long, smooth, complete finish.  Our 2007 Pinot Noir classically demonstrates the age of our vineyards and intensity of our fruit.

Shaky Bridge winemakers take out BRAGATO WINE AWARDS TROPHIES

Antony Worch and Marion Vialade, winemakers for Shaky Bridge Wines, have achieved the highest accolade at the 2009 Bragato Wine Awards with their 'Aravin Pinot Noir 2007'. Aravin is owned by Evan and Kay Moore of Alexandra. The Aravin wine won...

RESERVE CHAMPION WINE AND RICHARD SMART TROPHY

CHAMPION PINOT NOIR AND MIKE WOLTER MEMORIAL TROPHY

Visit Aravin on the web to find out more about this fantastic wine: www.aravin.co.nz

CONGRATULATIONS!!

It has begun and the winery is buzzing with activity. Antony is pumped, Marion is in high gear, Pauline is finding her feet and Simon is looking on in bemused fascination...no this isn't Zind Humbrect Simon! Everything is looking good for another great vintage!

Vintage Update, May '09 - the grapes are all in and we are stoked with the quality of fruit across the range of varieties. More Riesling and Chardonnay for Shaky Bridge and a lot more Pinot Gris for both our labels this year. Our Pinot Gris is in such great demand that's only a good thing! Pinot Noir looked fantastic, especially from some of the older blocks. The quality will be great this year.

Vintage Update - The First Tastings

One of the most exciting times at the winery is going in to the lab and tasting through the first batch of the wines once fermentation has finished...or sometimes while it's still going! We did this the other day and tasted through all the new vintage aromatics ~ Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Riesling and our Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Rose. Antony, Marion and the team have played with a few ideas for the Rose this year, so we are excited to finally decide how this wine will be made. The trials are all delicious in their own way, but their is something a little extra in a couple of the poential blends. More good stuff to come from our Rose in 2009! Pinot Gris is again just delicious...beautiful peach, passionfruit, pear and citrus flavors that are already showing in the wine. Time will make both of our Pinot Gris wines shine!

MORE MEDALS FOR SHAKY BRIDGE WINES!

We entered 5 wines in to the Royal Easter Show this year. Not too shabby, ay?

2008 Shaky Bridge Pinot Gris - Silver Medal

2008 Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir Rose - Silver Medal

2008 Shaky Bridge Gewurztraminer - Bronze Medal

2007 Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir - Bronze Medal

2006 Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir - Bronze Medal